Children as Actors for Transforming Society

Plenary Sessions

Sunday 27th July: Children as Advocates:

What is children’s advocacy and why is it important?

Advocacy is about organising discussions, debates and actions of all sorts that speak in favour of and support changes and improvements to our lives that we want to happen. In this plenary, young people from Croatia, Sweden, Albania and India, and adults from Eurochild and Child to Child were invited to talk about what we mean by children’s advocacy and why it is important.

Monday 28th July: Children as Educators

Through the testimonies of adults and children, reflections were organised as: children as educators for other children (French delegation), street children as educators for adults (Peruvian delegation), children as educators for society and law-making (DRC delegation). Each of the presentations was based on their own experiences and practices.

Panel of youth and adults from:

Apprentis d’Auteuil, French NGO

REEJER, Democratic republic of the Congo

QOSKO MAKI, Peru

Tuesday 29th July: Justice and Advocacy Morning

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. This session recreated one of the tools that Korczak developed in orphanages – “The Court of Peers”. All the participants of CATS were divided into discussion groups, then speakers defended their case on podiums (like a “Speakers Corner”), before presenting in front of a jury, which later gave its verdict.

Wednesday 30th July: Children as Health Activists:

Look at the “Rearview mirror” through the child’s eyes

“It is all about mutual participation for the transformation of society.”

Both mental and physical health were discussed during the session, first looking at the Council of Europe’s “No Hate Speech” campaign, after which children with intellectual disabilities presented their views and observations based on a series of interviews, chats and meetings with adults, both professionals and parents; from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Serbia, UK who were involved in Lumos ‘Turning Words Into Action’ project.

Speakers:

Aneta Teneva, Child Participation Officer, Lumos Bulgaria

Parents and young people from the Lumos ‘Turning Words into Action’ project

André-Jacques Dodin, Head of Youth Policy Division, Council of Europe

Thursday 31st July: Children as Media makers

Through the simulation of a “CATS TV show”, Photo Voice, an organisation using photography for advocacy, and children and young people from WorldVision Albania and Romania talked about their experience of working with media as a way of passing a message. The audience participated in the session with questions and by sharing their own “images of media” on a projected Twitter wall.